Visits to this site as of February 16, 2017...... over 102,000.
FACES OF CULPEPER....... IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
It seems that summer flew by and here we are in fall..... although it does not feel like fall. I have met lots of fun and interesting people as usual, but some of them, in fact about half of them, are not aware yet of this blog and/or my "Faces of Culpeper by Rich Crowley" facebook page, which has 3000 to 4000 visits a week. Come on people where have you been? Probably 65% of the people I talk with are aware of the Culpeper Times feature I do which is called "Rich Crowley's Snapshot of Culpeper." What is really odd is that almost all of them think the newspaper snapshot is called "Faces of Culpeper." We all have work to do. Occasionally I will use one picture in two of the features I do, but pretty rarely. Lots of people only see the snapshot in the paper and so I thought I would enlighten them with some of the facebook pictures and some of you facebook readers with a few of the"snapshot" featured pictures. If that made sense then let's get started.
My place of honor (first picture) goes to Cynthia Cooper who was enjoying the surf board at the new Lake Pelham facility by the Old Country Store. Boy, she was good! She is a nurse at the Facquier Hospital.
This guy just blew me away when I saw him walking towards Lowes with this Tritan Cockatoo on his shoulder as though it happened every day. He is Jason Parker and he has lived here about 10 years. He works for MICRON which is headquartered in my hometown of Boise, Idaho. Yep, that is a diaper!
Farmers' Market is where I saw this family. Gary, Beth and Jax.... seems that they are pretty important in the local youth athletic activities.
Yessir your Honor!! I had no idea this gentleman who was helping me at the store he manages..... was the Mayor of Culpeper. He flattered me by saying that he had wanted to meet me because of my pictures. He is Michael T. Olinger.
This is not exactly a face but it is a familiar place (nice rhyme). One day I watched Wendy's get leveled and took pictures of several stages of the destruction. There was another photographer standing over by the fence, but it was hot and he gave up before the job was done. I just parked my car across the street and sat in the air conditioning snapping an occasional shot. They are building a new version of Wendy's there. I could never quite figure out why it did not do better. Maybe this new version will be a big hit. I hope so.
This is MPO (Master Police Officer) M.E. Grant
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| This is Alex Mabrey who is the kitchen manager for Grill 309. I cornered him for a shot because of his tattoos. I am hoping to do another of these blogs on tattoos and I am building a stock of pictures for when that happens. |
I met this girl (where else?) but Yowell Meadow Park. Every time I went walking there, she was running and would lap me about four times. She runs very smoothly. Her name is Alice Fougere and she is from France and is here visiting friends. She graduated from college there with a degree in "Wines and Spirits." I know a lot of people who probably think they have earned that degree through experience. She was second in the 4th of July race and won both of the categories she entered in the Rixeyville race.
A new experience for me was absentee voting. These two cheerfully helped me. They are James Clements who is the General Registrar for Culpeper and Melissa Hart who is the assistant Registrar. I wore my "I Voted" sticker all day, but no one notice or commented if they did.
These guys were raising money for disabled kids by selling stickers that could be placed on the police cruiser. They called the event, "Tag a Cruiser." L-R, Boogie (provided music for the event) MPO Grant, Jason Smith, Richard Maylan, Sanford Reeves, and "DownTown" Ed Brown from station 1O3.5 WJMA.
I do get around it seems. I spend quite a bit of time with my camera in my car and it was a good thing on this day. One day as I was leaving Lowes I noticed that they had roped off one whole end of their parking lot. They had a number of big ticket items for sell like trucks and tractors and I can't remember what else. They were cooking hot dogs and had cokes and chips and since it was lunch I thought I would stop in and buy some. It had to be for a good cause I reasoned. It was better than that..... it was free! They were also having a free drawing for some power tools. This neat lady was managing all of that. Her name is Cindy Butler and she is a "Pro Service Specialist" for Lowes.
Mitchells Presbyterian Church is famous and historical and is down Rte. 522. It is known for its murals that were begun in 1888 and finished (sort of) seven years later. They are in remarkable condition partially because this gentleman, Tom Thomas restores them if they begin to have problems. Tom owns a business called Fineline Architectural Detailing.
These cheerful runners are Sandy and Paula Hall. For some reason I was surprised to discover that they are among the most significant cogs in the Culpeper business wheel. I would bet that along with all the other skills and habits they have, that approachability has worked well for them.
I had no idea that Jo Stillwell was so popular when I put her in my "Faces" facebook page. The board lit up, as it were. She got a ton of hits on her picture. She has been employed at Ferguson Plumbing for about 15 years and must have done it well given all the attention she garnered.
How do you sparkle when you are lifting this much weight? I get the feeling that this is not alot for her. Deb Panagos was working out at Zambora's when I met her. She is a School Social Worker for the Facquier County School system. We need people like her. I was surprised to discover that her father in law and I worked at Herndon High School at the same time in the 70s. She was not surprised..... she said that she meets people all the time who knew him
On a Saturday not long ago there was a rally and a walk at Yowell to raise money to help end Alzheimer's disease. I was lucky to get a picture of these guys. They just wanted me to call them the Grace Retirement Village Team.
I am just throwing in a ray of sunshine. One day as I was driving up to my house (we live at the end of a cul de sac). I spied this butterfly on one of my sunflowers. It was large enough to be seen from the street. He or she stuck around until I tiptoed up and took this picture. It never fails to make me feel good and to remember how beautiful our world is.
Did you know that there is a small airfield (well, not so small 600 foot runway) at Lenn Park? This gentleman is one of the main reasons that it is so bright and shiny..... he mows it every week...His name is Nic Burns and he is the president of (hang on) the Culpeper Model Barnstormers' Radio Control Model Airplane Club. The young woman is a junior member and her name is Patricia Antal. If you might be interested contact Ernie Padgette at 703 244 7465 or visit their website at www.cmbclubrc.com
Now that is a killer smile! This is Kelsey Carlson and she is the owner of the Green Roost. My wife and I always visit there when we are downtown. Guys, here is a hint..... (now this never happens to me, but...)if you have ever gotten in a bit of trouble with your wife or girlfriend and need a gift that says, "I'm Sorry!" Don't go the boring flower route. The Green Roost has these very cool bracelets called Alex and Ani bracelets. Your wife will be so impressed that you even knew about them and they are reasonable. It will look like you put lots of thought into the gift and here is the really good thing...... Kelsey will help you pick out the best one. Hope I did not blow you cover, Kelsey. Here is a warning ....to my eye they don't look so look so great, but trust me... your wife will go nuts. You are welcome.
I met this guy outside of the Culpeper Sport and Racquet Club. He's got one of those names that should have made him a star at an Ivy League college (Now starting at quarterback for Harvard..... Ford Thomson!!!! and the fans go wild.) He is a Culpeper native who works in Saudi Arabia as an English teacher to non English speakers. He was just home for a month. I think people are interesting who go out and experience the world. I enjoyed talking with him.
Now these folks have become sort of friends of mine. They are James and Brittany Laughorn and they own the Grill 309 next to the State Theatre. Grill 309 is a happening place. The workers are all cheerful and friendly as are the owners. They are open 11-11 Monday through Saturday and 10 to 8 on Sunday so people can catch the games. Brittany wanted to make sure that I knew that they feature 12 different kinds of beers and although I am not a drinker.....there we go..... 12 of them. BTW for others like me there are lots of other drink options. If you don't at least try it you will be missing out. Grill 309
Here is Titus and his owner Rob McPeak. They have been residents of the Peper for about a year now. Rob has a wife and three kids. He retired from the military and they looked around because they had no limits on where they could go and they picked Culpeper. When I asked him why Culpeper he just said, "Cause it's such a great place to live." Amen to that!
LET'S GO FOR THE BIG FINISH!!!
This is all the fun I can handle so I am going to end right now.
This little lady has the name, Macruth. She is always bubbly and seems happy. She speaks to everyone as she is walking at Yowell Meadow Park. However she has a story. She has come here to work in her sisters saloon where she is a hairbraiding specialist. She came all the way from Cameroun, Africa where she still has children.
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RICH CROWLEY'S SNAPSHOT OF CULPEPER
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CULPEPER TIMES
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